The Tortilla Curtain
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| Tortilla Curtain | |
| Author | T. C. Boyle |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Neil Stuart |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Publication date | 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 368 p. (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-670-85604-5 (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | Without a Hero |
| Followed by | Riven Rock |
The Tortilla Curtain (1995) is a novel by U.S. author T.C. Boyle about middle-class values, illegal immigration, xenophobia, poverty, and environmental destruction. Of the eleven novels Boyle has written so far, The Tortilla Curtain has turned out to be his most successful.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The Tortilla Curtain is the story of two couples who have nothing in common except the fact that they live in the same area. Cándido (a divorcee) and América (a young woman) are two Mexicans who have entered the United States illegally and who are dreaming of the good life in their own little house somewhere in California. Meanwhile, they are homeless and camping in the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, in the hills above Malibu. Another couple, Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher, have also recently moved to Topanga, in order to be closer to nature yet be close enough to the city to enjoy those amenities. Kyra is a successful real estate agent while Delaney keeps house, looks after Kyra's son by her first marriage and writes a regular column for an environmentalist magazine. The two couples' paths cross unexpectedly when Cándido is hit and injured by Delaney, who is driving his car along the suburban roads near his home. For different reasons, each man prefers not to call the police or an ambulance, and Delaney soothes his conscience by giving Cándido "$20 blood money," explaining to Kyra that "He's a Mexican." From that moment on, the lives of the two couples are constantly influenced by the other's.
After the accident, Cándido's problems deepen. With América pregnant, his shame at not being able to get a job and procure a home and food for his family increases, especially when América decides to find some illegal—and possibly dangerous—work herself. At one point in the novel, they are forced to go through the trash cans behind a convenience store so as not to starve.
The Mossbachers are also having problems, though of an altogether different nature. Comfortably settled in their new home, they are faced with the cruelty of nature when one of their two pet dogs is killed by a coyote. In addition, the majority of inhabitants of their exclusive estate feel increasingly disturbed and threatened by the presence of—as they see it—potentially criminal, illegal aliens and vote for a wall to be built around the whole estate.
Cándido has a stroke of luck when he is given a free turkey at a grocery store by another customer, who has just received it through the store's Thanksgiving promotion. When Cándido starts roasting the bird back in their shelter, he inadvertently causes a fire which spreads so quickly that even the gated community the Mossbachers live in has to be evacuated.
In the midst of the escalating disasters, América gives birth to a daughter, whom she suspects might be blind. But the couple has no money to have little Socorro (Spanish: help) examined by a doctor.
Time and again in the novel, however, it is hinted at that the real perpetrators can be found inside rather than outside the projected wall: well-to-do people insensitive to the plight of the have-nots; WASP racists afraid of being overrun by Latinos and of the end of white supremacy; business people employing illegal immigrants to maximise their own profit without caring for the welfare of those who work for them; and criminals posing as honourable members of society.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
The Tortilla Curtain is often used as a reading project in language classes in high schools all over the world to examine the topic of immigration and the gap between rich and poor.
Boyle himself says that when it first came out it was
| “ | ...my most controversial novel. Because it dealt with a hot-button socio-political issue -- illegal immigration in Southern California -- many of the reviewers came into the book with strong prejudices. I took a good deal of abuse, including (my favorite instance) being called "human garbage" on a call-in radio show in San Francisco. As people have had a chance to think about the book more deeply over the course of the past few years, the furor has died down and The Tortilla Curtain has become a modern classic, by far my most popular title, widely read in high schools and universities around the country. | ” |
The book consciously evokes John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, and opens with an epigraph from that novel:
| “ | They ain't human. A human being wouldn't live like they do. A human being couldn't stand it to be so dirty and miserable. [1] | ” |
[edit] Book information
Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
- Hardcover – ISBN 0-670-85604-5 (1995, First Edition)
- Hardcover – ISBN 1-56895-287-2 (1996, Large Type Edition)
- Paperback – ISBN 0-14-023828-X (1996)
[edit] Similar and related works
- In Bharati Mukherjee's novel Jasmine (1989), a young Indian woman living as an illegal alien in the United States tries to make ends meet.
- American musical group Eddie From Ohio's song "Cándido & América" is based on the novel.
- Cándido's name is a reference to Candide.
[edit] Film adaptation
A film was just put into pre-production. It stars Kevin Costner, Meg Ryan and Janik Skibinsky.
[edit] External links
- The Tortilla Curtain Project - Excellent and concise source for information on "The Tortilla Curtain".
- A collection of the best online resources on "The Tortilla Curtain" for students and teachers.
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